PerthNow reported yesterday that Mitchell Freeway will get an extra lane:
THE Mitchell Freeway will get an extra lane as the WA Government scrambles to tackle traffic congestion in the 12-month run-up to the next election.
The Sunday Times can reveal that Treasurer Christian Porter’s May Budget will include $41 million to be spent on an extra northbound lane, for 8km from the Graham Farmer Freeway to Hutton St.
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The project will cost $16 million, with the Government predicting 14,500 extra vehicles a day will drive through the tunnel to avoid the diversions of Riverside Drive traffic up Barrack and William streets into The Esplanade from May next year as part of the Perth Waterfront development.
Town of Cambridge has already indicated that around Lake Monger:
The rest of the bitumen path from the pagoda to the overpass over the freeway would not be done because the Mitchell Freeway was due to be widened by one lane sometime this year.
After the freeway work was done, the shared path would be completed, probably by making the pedestrian-only path on the eastern side the lake a shared path.
The pedestrian only footpath allows pedestrian’s a choice of using the footpath or the shared path. After the freeway upgrade, there will be only one choice, a shared path.
If you look at at Scarborough Beach Rd overpass there is only the emergency strip between the PSP and the freeway. If the area around Lake Monger which is several meters away from the freeway is going to be impacted, the PSP over Scarborough Beach Rd overpass will also be impacted, with no room to move except for the PSP to be relocated to the east, or for us to cross Scarborough Beach Rd, under the overpass.
I also can’t see the logic of just putting in 1 extra lane northbound to cater for extra traffic from Riverside Drive closure. Cars are either going via Riverside Drive, and getting on the Freeway north, already on the freeway or using alternative routes (ie Farmer Freeway tunnel). This does not result in extra traffic travelling northbound on the freeway, as they would have already been travelling north. If however, as the title of the article indicates, it is as a result of traffic congestion, then shouldn’t a southbound lane also be added? If it does, then further impacts on the PSP will occur due to the closeness of the PSP to the freeway around areas on the east side of the freeway at the Lake Monger area.
We have already observed the impact of the Kwinana Freeway PSP (Leach Highway area) closures, as a result of a freeway widening. What benefits do cyclists get out of these closures?
In my view, this is an other $16M being spent on trying to improve traffic congestion for those heading north on the Mitchell Freeway which is only to Hutton St. Why can’t we spend it on public transport and improvement of the cycling infrastructure to allow more individuals to not use their car?
Well, $2 million per kilometre of road which will only create a further bottleneck past Hutton Street. Sigh.
Many years ago, I heard that the Northern PSP would be “fixed”, to only be on the eastern side of the freeway (much like the Southern PSP being on the west of the Kwinana). Nothing has been done to alleviate this criss-crossing over or under the Mitchell (even all the way to Burns Beach Road). Here, then, is a golden opportunity to actually do that, I would think. But as transport infrastructure is almost solely thought of to be car-centric, I doubt anything will be done , or it will be an afterthought: “Oh, that’s right. What will we do with the bike path?” once it’s impacted by the road widening.
The Super Tuesday bike count will show that more and more cyclists are using the Northern PSP, and very little is being done to improve this popular route. The increased use is (IMHO) more than 10% per year every year, yet even getting parts of the path resurfaced is well-nigh impossible, and when it IS done, it’s nowhere near to the same quality as on suburban roads. There would be a hue and cry if the patches we’ve put up with on the PSP (e.g. opposite Lake Monger) were done on a road – and cars have suspension and (relatively) low tyre pressure.
So, yes, I absolutely agree: the $16 million would be better spent getting a decent path for more cyclists to use. Try taking 14,500 cars off the freeway, rather than “cater” for them at the expense of better options!
Hi Tony, the $16M is to add an extra lane to the tunnell. It is $41M to add an extra northbound lane, from Graham Farmer Freeway to Hutton St, a distance of 8km, which is then over $5M per km. The tunnel is less than 2km in length, so this section works out at $8M per km, which is amazing when you consider that it shouldn’t be much road work required as it is conversion of an emergency lane into an additional ‘real’ lane.
Total agree with your comments in relation to the PSP surface, I send a note off earlier today to MainRoads to reconsider what has occured north of Karrinyup Rd and the number of bumps in that section. I indicated that I had replaced my spoke on the week-end, and just this evening, got a flat as well.
“Why can’t we spend it on public transport and improvement of the cycling infrastructure to allow more individuals to not use their car?”
No votes in cycling and public transport…..Every town planner and traffic planner knows that you cannot build your way out of congestion – more road space will generate more trips….
a car centric, political fix, as usual – by a govt that thinks that bikes are a nuisance. We need to replace the RACWA who are our representatives on teh Road Safety council as they are far more interested in advocating for cars.